NSQHS Standards updates and consultations

Open consultation – Draft NSQHS Standards Aged care module

The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (the Commission) is seeking feedback on the draft National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards Aged Care Module. This module has been developed to allow organisations to meet the requirements of both the NSQHS Standards and the Aged Care Quality (ACQ) Standards by assessment to one set of standards.

The NSQHS Standards have been reviewed against the ACQ Standards. This has shown there is a significant overlap in the requirements of the two sets of standards. This draft module describes the gap between the two standards in the form of six actions. Implementation of these six actions in addition to the NSQHS Standards enables organisations to meet the requirements of both the NSQHS and ACQ Standards.

The Aged Care Module has been developed for use by Multi-purpose services (MPS). MPSs are organisations that largely operate in remote and small communities, providing a range of care that may include acute, community, primary care and aged care services.

The development of the NSQHS Standards Aged Care Module is a project on the Commission’s work plan endorsed by states, territories and the Commonwealth.

Consultation has commenced and will run until 9 August 2019.

Our preferred method for receiving your feedback is via SurveyMonkey. Please submit your feedback through this survey. However written submissions can be emailed to NSQHSStandards@safetyandquality.gov.au.

If you have any queries about the survey please contact the National Standards Program by email to NSQHSStandards@safetyandquality.gov.au or telephone 1800 304 056.

You are invited to provide feedback on the NSQHS Standards Aged Care Module, or alternatively, specific actions that are important to you. Included below are questions to guide your feedback. You can answer all, some or none of the questions in your feedback. There is no word limit on your response.

• Is the intent of the module clear?
• Is the language in the module clear?

For each of the six actions:

• Is the intent of this Action clear?
• Is the language of this Action clear?
• Can compliance with this Action be easily measured?
• Is the requirement in this Action appropriate to MPSs?
• Do you have any specific comments on this Action?
• What, if any, additional requirements should be included in the module?
• Please provide any other feedback you have on this module?

Open consultation – National Safety and Quality Primary Health Care Standards

The Commission is consulting on National Safety and Quality Primary Health Care Standards for providers other than general practices. Primary health care stakeholders and consumers are invited to participate in this process.

Your involvement is essential in developing standards that:

• Are of value to the sector
• Focus on safety and quality outcomes
• Are patient-centred.

Consultations focusing on primary health care providers other than general practice will be held throughout Australia from May to July 2019. It will involve face-to-face and video workshops as well as an online survey.

The information gathered during this process will be used to develop National Safety and Quality Primary Health Care Standards. 

Please note, community services that are part of a hospital network are also outside of this work as they are included under the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards.

Further information about the consultation schedule and survey is located in the National Safety and Quality Primary Health Care Standards page.

Closed consultation – Draft NSQHS Standards User guide for medication management in cancer care

Consultation on the draft NSQHS Standards User guide for medication management in cancer care is now closed.

The Commission is now reviewing the information received during the consultation process. This information will be used to finalise the resource.